Biological science is built on the theory of natural selection. This theory boils down to whatever will allow an organism to multiply will be selected. In a disease, killing the host is not great for the disease because it can no longer be a host. Viruses that keep a host healthy will be far more likely to spread and multiply than those that keep a person locked in bed. It’s because a healthier individual will be more likely to spread the disease; many in human health believe that one day the disease will selectively become benign in nature.

  In contrast, almost all planets with the existence of a mana shell have no disease. Mana in the environment automatically fortifies the inhabitants. Genetic diseases are mitigated as their magically enhanced bodies compensate; viruses, as non-living entities, are unable to overcome the corrections imposed by mana, and even bacteria are manipulated to favor less destructive outcomes. While the full scope of mana on disease has not been researched as much as is warranted, despite the lack of research, there is a clear conclusion throughout the universe: native diseases have been eradicated everywhere except Earth.

  While it is nice to know that traveling will prevent cavities, allergies, and even foot fungus, it is important to also realize the long-term changes this has created. On Earth, immune systems are constantly tested and necessary to prevent death. Abroad, most populations have lost any form of immune system. The natural effects of mana will prevent most travelers from infecting inhabitants. Some diseases form in the case where magic is specifically targeted to enhance the infectious agent. With little to no immune system, disease magic is catastrophic to all except travelers, who often find it an annoyance at most.

  -Traveler’s Guild Lecture on Disease and Magic.

  “Oh, we are here!” Amanda, the spacey maid, says as she bounds into the house. “Alissa, we arrived at the house- oh wow, all the furniture is gone! Mister, did you steal the furniture from lord Kiwi? You had better put it back before he gets here. Rumor is he is an uncivilized wilder. He might bite your ankles.”

  I walk into the house as Amanda scurries throughout the house. Alyssa walks down the stairs to meet me. “It’s unusual for the previous tenant to take their furniture with them.”

  I shake my head, “No, the previous tenant is deceased, Lady Heartbran, and I had a disagreement. She decided to try to teach me a lesson by taking all the furniture.”

  In a dry tone, she advises, “I would suggest you avoid that in the future.”

  I nod, “I will keep that in mind next time I am inheriting a noble house.”

  In the background, I hear Amanda loudly exclaim, “The beds are gone too!”

  I heft my bag of gold, “How much will that get me?”

  She eyes the bag, not grabbing it. “It will take about 200 gold to buy new furniture and fully furnish the house.”

  I frown, “I don’t have 200 gold. Take fifty, get us beds, and enough food to stock the house. Couches and some of the living room furniture can wait until we have more money. I want to talk about securing some revenue before we go through all of it. I have a few items from the dungeon I can sell. Do you know where I can sell them?”

  “If you want to sell mundane weapons and armor, you can sell them to the estate’s blacksmith. Magical artifacts can be sold at auctions or through the trading guild. Do you have a license with the trading guild?”

  I shake my head no.

  “I would have been surprised to find you have one. It normally costs a few hundred gold to get a license. Once you have one, you can sell to the guild, and they will find the buyer.”

  “A few hundred gold just to sell to them?”

  She shrugs, “The guild says they charge the fee to take on the risk for new clients. They operate a set of trading hubs and a few banks.”

  Suddenly, a hundred gold coins doesn’t seem that much. After asking a few more questions about the guild, I learn that most artifacts start at fifty gold. Three hundred gold could be made in a successful dungeon run or two. I also learn that the trading guild is not a good name. They were basically a private army within the kingdom that transports, protects, and assesses artifacts.

  Considering how much power an artifact gave to a mage, and most of those in power were mages, I can see why they need a private army. Hearing how expensive it is to gain the license to sell artifacts, I ask about selling some of the mundane armor to help boost our meager funds. Most of the armor will go for less than a gold, so I decide to hang onto it for now.

  “Ok, so selling items from the dungeon will need to wait a minute. What do most other houses do to acquire funds?” I ask.

  She sits up, going into lecturer mode. “As a noble of the house of Heartbran, you have several duties you are required to perform. Defense of the land, quests given by Lord and Lady Heartbran, and social events.

  Each of these will provide opportunities for you to grow your house. Most other nobles will also hire workers to grow food, harvest timber, or provide other resources. While not the favorite topic, these developments do provide a steady source of income. This normally requires a sizable investment you do not currently have.”

  I scrunch my eyebrows down, “I thought most nobles got taxes from their estate.”

  I can practically feel her resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “Taxes require people with income. Right now, you only have two people on your estate, and both work for you.”

  I scratch my head sheepishly, “What did the previous lord do for money if he had not invested in the property?”

  She stares at me, not responding at first.

  “What?”

  “The previous lord did have a very lucrative mine at the corner of his property, but once he passed, the Sandridge branch treated with the estate to trade it for another patch of land. Lord and Lady Heartbran agreed to the trade while the estate is in escrow.”

  I clench my teeth and my hands. “Do you happen to know when it happened?”

  She blinks, looking down at her papers, “The Sandridge estate approached with the deal only a few hours after he was known to be dead.”

  “So, they traded away the only income source of the house, then took all the furniture.”

  “It was a strong move by the Sandridge branch, the mine is one of the most lucrative developments in the Heartbran estate. It provides enough iron for the Earldom’s knights and exports to sell.” She adds.

  Not helpful. “So, I don’t have enough money to sell my items, and not enough money to start any buisnesses. So that leaves?”

  She puts her clipboard down. “There are a few options depending on what you want to do. The estate will give out quests, but you could make an inquiry to perform standing quests. Normally, it is seen as below a noble’s station, but no noble is barred from even the simplest of quests. I would caution against roaming too far. If you were seen in dereliction of your duties to maintain a defense of the house, it could come with consequences.”

  She continues, “You could also offer your services. I hear you have a healing spell form. You could either accompany others as a healer or provide services for healing. The final option will be the least appealing. The Heartbran estate has informed me of your dungeon privileges. You could sell your spot to others for a monetary reward.”

  Selling my dungeon spot sounds like the best idea to me now, but I resist the urge to jump on the offer. I still have two months before I need to make a decision, and a lot could change in two months.

  “Start putting feelers out, I want to know which of my options are actually viable. Doing quests and providing services for my healing sounds like great options to help grow my house, but I need to know what the quests are and what healing will entail. Get me a list of a few.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  She nods, “I would like to remind you that you also have court duties. As a branch house, your duties are not as substantial as the main estate, but you will still need someone to attend court to learning of developments or speak on your behalf.”

  I sigh as I think about how boring it will be to be stuck in court. There are only three of us; I want to focus my time on training, growth, and quests. I need Alyssa free to help me get the quests and maintain the house. That only leaves Amanda, and there’s no way she will remember; she can’t even remember my name. I’m hopeful there’s someone I can have cover my courtly duties so I can get some work done.

  I turn back to Alyssa, “The Heartbran estate said they would also give me a few more people to help me maintain the land and a few knights. Do you know when they’ll be here?”

  She gives a curt shake of her head, “It may have been promised, but considering you spurned the Lord and Lady, it could be a while. A little favor might go a long way. You could give a second or even a third pledge of loyalty to gain favor.”

  I immediately reject the idea. I want to stay as far away from the Earl and Earless as possible, not tie myself down to them. No, what I need is leverage or some kind of advantage. Being a rare healer is a start, but I’m also from Earth, which is technologically far superior to here.

  Most of Earth’s advancements come with the mass manufacturing of equipment and reagents. Without the support of industry, manufacturing, and basic tools, recreating half of what I had in my last life will be impossible, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

  I have always been entertained by the idea of starting civilization over or surviving in the wild. I know enough to recreate the smokeless powder from guns and a few other innovations. Recreating guns has some appeal, but I doubt a bunch of magi able to shoot fireballs will be enticed by that. Still, their powers rely on fire. If I make explosives, it will generate a quick burst of fire for fire affinity magi.

  One of House Heartbran’s greatest weaknesses is the reliance on existing sources of fire to power their spells. I have no doubt that the torches they keep fueled at all times cost a significant amount of money. In the sewers, if Olivia had a few minor explosives, she could’ve generated some light and fire mana. I’m not sure she would’ve won, but she would’ve been able to hold out much longer.

  The greatest irony is that I’m not sure how my own powers will help me. Gunpowder will create light and fire mana, which is the exact opposite of water and darkness. Maybe I can purify water to create better materials to manipulate. I know I can think up some way to use my knowledge to help me; it's just a matter of time.

  I start going through the rest of my affinities. Maybe I can create a kind of smoke bomb to create shadows and preserve bodies for quick access. Keeping corpses around as soldiers feels creepy, but could be useful. Mind might come in handy for farming. The other affinities I’m not so sure of.

  I begin thinking of how I can use my understanding of physics and chemistry to craft something that would give me leverage. I’m starting to think of how I can make some smoke grenades or explosives, but that will be wildly unsafe. I can limit the problem with my powers by cooling the items.

  Sand is very temperature conductive, and will do a great job of lining an underground freezer. I can also feed pipes through the sand so water can flow. With my power, I can even freeze it. Unfortunately, freezing things often isn’t helpful towards creating things, only preserving them.

  I can also create a still. Alcohols will have so many uses. I know there’s beer and wine, but alcohol will have other uses. To get what I need, I will need to concentrate them with a still. The more I try to think of how I will start developing, the more I realize I will need copper, heat, and plants. None of those are in my affinity or items I have easy access to now. I sigh. At the end of the day, there’s one thing I’m pretty sure I can obtain, but I’m not happy about it.

  Seeing the quests, I approach my new advisor to start. After a few minutes of explaining what I need, she asks, “Why do you want to collect the poop from animals?”

  There’s one thought that I can feel radiating off Alyssa so strongly that the actual words come through. He is crazy.

  “I want to try something. Just acquire it and put it in the back yard, maybe a hundred feet from the house, so it doesn’t smell.” She gives me a dubious look as I hand her a few gold coins to bring workers and farmers to get what I want. This will be the first step towards creating explosives. I will need to purify the ingredients, but the more I get now, the less I will need later.

  There’s one other idea I have. A long time ago, when I went to school to be an EMT, I learned that the single greatest invention for health is plumbing. I want to try recreating modern plumbing here. I will need a few prototypes, but if I get it working, I’ll be able to dramatically change the lives of everyone in the Heartbran estate.

  “One more thing, Alyssa, I want to bring up another idea,” I say, ready to rock her world.

  She turns, unsure she wants to hear it after learning I want manure from all the local farms.

  “I want to try to create indoor plumbing. Imagine being able to use a chamber pot, except it is self-cleaning. Water that comes straight from the well without having to grab it. Hot water fills the pot without you needing to boil it.” I say, smiling as I explain my great invention to her.

  “It sounds nice, but I’m not sure it would be worth the cost. You might be able to sell it to some of the higher noble houses, but not with your status as a Wilder… or your obsession with poop.”

  I grin, knowing I have her now. “Yeah, but not only will it be the chamber pot for you, but it will also prevent disease.”

  “It will ward off disease mages?” She says, perplexed.

  “No, not magic, like an actual disease. You know colds, coughs, parasites, and infections.”

  Confused, she asks, “I don’t understand what you are talking about. Will it ward off being cold? What is a parasite?”

  Trying to explain, I try to describe the disease. I don’t think they will have germ theory. “You know, when you get sick from a disease. You see all the symptoms. Coughing, throwing up, feeling bad-”

  “-death.” She interrupts with finality.

  “Well, in some cases, but this will prevent the majority of disease,” I say.

  Frustrated, she says, “Jason, you aren’t making sense. If you get a disease, you die. You either get it, or you don’t. They are the ultimate bane of healers. Once you get infected, you are done for, but disease magic is incredibly rare.”

  We continue back and forth until I realize there’s no naturally occurring disease on the planet. Not even birth defects or food poisoning. As far as Alyssa knows, there are no naturally occurring bacterial or viral diseases. It makes no sense.

  “What about a parasite?” I ask. I’m still not convinced. I’m sure there’s something I’m missing.

  “What’s a parasite?” She asks.

  I explain a few things, like heartworms in dogs, leeches, and tapeworms. The more I explain, the whiter she gets, and I see mounting horror on her face.

  “Stop! Just, no more.”

  I’m surprised to see the woman so thrown off by the description of parasites. I let the subject die for now.

  While Alyssa and Amanda settle in, I go outside to find a nice space on the ground and start practicing. I start with my constitution training stone since I have made so much progress with it. Slowly, I start tracing the weaves and loops of the stone. It’s far easier without the mana interference. I lose myself in the slow repetitive action until I can create three pieces seamlessly. I start to piece together the first and second pieces when I’m shaken.

  I open my eyes to find Alyssa gripping my shoulder. “Good, you are awake. I cannot have you freezing to death on the first day of my employment. Come inside, dinner is ready.”

  Shaken from my trance, I feel the bite of the cold night air. With my ice affinity, it’s nowhere near enough to cause me harm, but I decide not to say anything to her. I follow her as my eyes roam the landscape. The final rays of light are receding as night approaches. I see birds flying about, but my vision isn’t sharp enough to see anything more.

  I follow her through the back door and see Amanda munching away at a steaming bowl, and in the background, a tall, slender man slides back and forth through the kitchen. He’s wearing a roughspun shirt and pants with short black hair in a bowl cut. I turn to Alyssa and raise my eyebrow.

  “George has joined the house to work. He is trained as a cook.” She says, motioning to the man in my kitchen.

  I extend my hand, “Welcome, George, it is good to have you.”

  George stops his work, looks at my hand, nods his head, and resumes his work. I pause for a moment, confused, until Alyssa tells me, “He is also mute.”

  A moment later, he gives me a steaming bowl. I look inside to see vegetables and smell the spices. I sit down and silently eat my bowl of ratatouille. Once I feel warm and full, I turn to Alyssa. “So how did buying furniture go?”

  “We got three beds in the house with straw mattresses. That is all I could do on short notice. I found out to whom all the furniture is sold, but he is being rather stingy about selling it back. He wants three hundred gold.”

  I scratch my chin.

  “Let’s go talk to him tomorrow,” I say. I’m tired of getting fleeced.

  “What do you plan to say?” She asks, concerned about what I might be planning.

  “I just want to talk.”

  “I can handle this matter.”

  I give her a reassuring smile, “You did a great job getting the beds here so fast, and I have no doubt you will do a great job.”

  I still want to have a talk. After that, I gave my bowl to George and went to the master bed to get some sleep. The bed is scratchy as I can feel the straw poking through the mattress, but it’s better than sleeping on the floor.